Eich on Solving County Space Problems

• Who remembers the promise made when the County bought the Reynolds Bank building from M & T Bank?

• The project -- acquisition and renovation -- would cost less than a million dollars.

• That promise was broken.  The project cost $2.6 million.  That's a 160% cost overrun . . . on a building with only 9,600 square feet of usable space . . . which provides offices for a handful of employees . . . and eliminated the spectacular interior of bank in the process -- marble wainscoting and floors, etc.

• The project DID NOT even solve the county's space problem.  Even before the Annex was completed, the county was back on the real estate market looking for additional space.

 • On April 1, 2005 the CDT reported County looks at Reserve center to deal with a “the severe space crunch in county offices”.

 • Space was leased along the Benner Pike for a District Magistrate office.

 • The Sheriff’s office was moved to the old jail -- a building with failing utility systems.

 • The Probation and Parole Office remains crammed into the spaces it occupies – which have yet to be renovated.

 • Centre County will become a 4th class county after the 2010 Census.  As a result, an existing row office (Prothonotary/Clerk of Courts) will be split into two separate offices creating additional space pressures for county government.

 • The activity generated by the Courthouse causes parking problems in Bellefonte.

The Commissioners need to work with Bellefonte Borough to develop a comprehensive solution to the County’s space and parking problems - a solution that will serve a generation, not just until next week.

A Needs Study was prepared for the county in 2003.  That study should be reviewed and updated as necessary.  Then a public review process should be used to determine what the public would like to do.